<![CDATA[Cascadia Wild - Tracking Challenge!]]>

<![CDATA[Cascadia Wild - Tracking Challenge!]]>Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:42:38 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Tracking Challenge 3 Winners]]>Wed, 28 Apr 2021 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-3-winnersThe results of our Carnivore Tracking Challenge are in!
We asked for you to look for the most unusual sign, the clearest tracks, and the most unusual tracks of carnivores. You all did not disappoint!

Read on for tracks and sign left by owl, bobcat, and WOLVERINE!

The Winners
Carnivore Tracking Challenge

Category 1: The Most unusual sign

The winner of this category is Kimber Nelson, one of the Tracking Leaders with Cascadia Wild. While the animal who left this particular sign does not belong to the order of Carnivora, a taxonomical family of mammalian carnivores, they do eat a carnivorous diet. You may be able to tell instantly who left this by showing you their telltale sign:

Owl pellets!

Owls swallow their meals whole, and the pellet is a mass of all the indigestible contents of an owl's meal, such as fur and bones, that has been regurgitated from the gullet in a compressed ball. These particular pellets were left by a great horned owl. Great horned owls are excellent eaters and can eat a wide variety of rodents, birds, lizards, toads, and even rabbits - animals much larger than themselves!

What was so interesting about this sign was not the pellet itself but what was found in it...

Great horned owl, courtesy Wikipedia.

A shrew mole!

What makes this sign unusual is that it's uncommon to see a shrew mole or their sign, despite them being common to the temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Aptly named, shrew moles are evolutionarily somewhere between a shrew and a mole. They are the smallest subspecies of mole, and they dig tunnels just like a mole would, but their tunnels are usually in the litter layer of the upper surface of the dirt, or just below it, so they don't create mounds of dirt, or mole hills, like their larger mole cousins. Like moles and shrews, shrew moles eat mostly insects and other small invertebrates, which either fall into their tunnels for an easy meal or are actively hunted. They can eat prey almost as large as themselves and, like owls, they eat their meals whole. They discard only hard bits like wings, so almost no feeding sign is left behind for a tracker to spot.

The American shrew mole, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Usually the only sign you might find of a shrew mole is their remains, such as this skull. Their skulls are about half an inch long, and their teeth are all sharp and pointed - a characteristic shared by all insectivores. Despite being similarly sized and shaped, shrew mole skulls can be distinguished from shrew skulls by their white teeth that lack pigmentation. Likewise, shrew moles have a much flatter jawbone and fewer teeth than moles do. You have to look very closely - bring your magnifying glass!

Both shrews and shrew moles are commonly preyed upon by owls. Shrew moles are a tiny but an easy snack: after being spooked by a predator, they will hide in a hole or burrow, only to reemerge within a minute, prompted by their voracious hunger. One of their tactics to avoid being eaten is to taste bad, so owls, who have no sense of taste, are their primary predators.

Category 2: The clearest Tracks

The winner for the clearest carnivore tracks goes to Chris Howard, an ardent nordic skier and member of the Blues Crew, a group from the Blue Mountain Land Trust that builds and maintains trails throughout the year. He found these bobcat tracks while out skiing in the Blue Mountains. These tracks are so clear that you can even see the claws - something we don't get to see with cats very often!

Felines have protractable claws and will extend them to help gain traction, such as on steep or slippery surfaces or when running. Just because you see claws in a track, doesn't mean it's not a cat! The other clues that gave this one away are the characteristic heel pad shaped like a trapezoid and the evenly spaced toes surrounding the heel pad. Overall, the whole print makes a circular shape characteristic of all cats. In this case, the size is right for bobcat.

If you've been following along on the Tracking Challenges this winter, you might remember a beautiful photo of a bobcat shown here. Well, Ray Anderson and Kathleen Baker once again caught a bobcat in their West Portland yard - this time on their trail cam! It's so great to see that their neighborhood is supporting so much diversity!

And, that's not all. We also have a big-cat related honorable mention for Amanda Ferguson, a longtime volunteer with a keen eye who is always finding interesting sign while out checking cameras or doing a fox or wolf survey. This time, she found what may be sign of a mountain lion kill and bobcat feeding, over on the east side of Mt. Hood National Forest.

Both of the deer carcasses shown above look like they may have been dragged to where they lay. This is a feat only for large carnivores like mountain lions and bears. However, in both instances, it seems the larger carnivore didn't get to stay around to enjoy their meal. If they had, less of the skeleton would be intact, instead parts of it would be crushed to get to the tasty marrow in the bones. However, both carcasses are picked completely clean, suggesting that a midsize carnivore such as a bobcat, coyote, or even a smaller carnivore like a raccoon or raven may have been at work here.

In the second photo, we have an additional clue: a lot of deer hair surrounds the skeleton. Canines don't tend to be picky, but felines will remove the hair of an animal before they eat it, and so this is likely that a bobcat fed on this deer. We may never know for sure, but it can be interesting to search for the evidence and try to piece it all together.

In either case, hopefully there is a bear or cougar out there who is finally getting to enjoy a hard-earned meal!

Category 3: The most unusual Tracks

This final category is also one that may, for many, be the most exciting!
While out adventuring in the Wallowas, Graham Hulbert, also a Cascadia Wild Tracking Leader, came upon tracks left by a WOLVERINE!

Wolverines are able to stay on top of snow, thanks to their large feet that act like snowshoes. Their feet are so large, you might even mistake their tracks for a bear, an animal much larger and heavier. Their tracks measure about 3 5/8 - 6 inches long by 3 1/4 - 5 1/2 inches wide, and the tracks above are right in that realm. Wolverine's feet are also heavily furred, another adaptation for snow, which can make their tracks look somewhat indistinct or melted out, even though they may be fairly fresh. Wolverines, like other mustelids (martens, minks, weasels, otters, and so on), have five toes on each foot, and their heel pad is shaped like an upside down U. Their claws are semi-retractable; like bobcats they are used for traction - or even for grasping prey - and they may not show in their tracks.

Wolverines also typically move in a lope, which is an energy efficient, slower gallop. Since their legs are short and their feet are large, there is often not much space between the individual footfalls relative to their body length. The trail shown in the photo below shows the groupings of a lope: the left front foot falls first, followed by the right front and then the left hind almost falling on top of each other, and ends with the right hind at the top of the group. Then, the motion repeats in this pattern, which is called a 3x4 lope, the most common gait for a wolverine to use. The length of each of these groups is about 2-3 feet, which is just right for wolverine, too.

These tracks likely belong to Oregon's only known wolverine, nicknamed Stormy. Although other wolverines have been documented here and there in Oregon over the years, Stormy is the only confirmed wolverine to be residing here. He was the first to take up official residence since the 1930s, when wolverines were made locally extinct through fur trapping.

What we know about Stormy is thanks to the hard work of the Wallowa Wolverine Project. First documented in 2011, Stormy has consistently been documented each year since, and most reliably in springtime. The same year he was first documented, two additional wolverines were also documented in the Wallowas, but have not been seen since.

Stormy is recognizable by his distinct, lighter colored chest markings, called a gular patch. All wolverines have a gular patch, and no two are alike, so this patch acts like their unique fingerprint. Researchers get wolverines to show off their gular patch with what's called a runpole setup, where a platform is placed in front of a camera with bait hung above. The wolverine (and often other animals like black bears, martens, and even foxes and mountain lions) stands on the platform and stretches up toward the bait revealing their torso. This setup also allows researchers to tell the sex of each individual, along with other characteristics like whether a female is nursing during kit rearing season. Usually, there are also wire-brush snaggers on the platform that collect hair samples for genetic analysis, giving further insight into the individuals that visit.

Stormy standing on a runpole setup, showing his torso and distinctive gular patch. From Wallowa Wolverine Project.

While Stormy may be the only wolverine known in the Wallowas, wolverines can cover incredible distances in their day to day wanderings and as they disperse to new territories. It's not unlikely that wolverines will one day disperse from Idaho to the Blue Mountains, or other parts of Oregon, just as Stormy has done.

This hope is dear to Cascadia Wild, as we started the Wolverine Tracking Project almost 20 years ago to confirm reports of wolverine sightings on Mt. Hood. Whether these tracks belong to Stormy, or whether they may be sign of a new wolverine in town, we have goosebumps thinking about encountering something like this in the wild! Indeed, to many, wolverines symbolize the large expanse of wilderness on which they depend. Stormy's continued presence in the Wallowas attests to the strength and richness of this ecosystem and its suitability to support other wolverines, while supporting the hope of the wolverine's return to their historical range.

You can learn more about Stormy and the Wallowa Wolverine Project by following their Instagram: @WallowaWolverineProject.
And check out their recent 2019-2020 Wallowa Wolverine Report: Wolverine Persistence in Oregon's Wallowa Mountains.

Stormy, the Wolverine of the Wallowas. From Wallowa Wolverine Project.

Thanks for joining us this winter for our first ever round of Tracking Challenges. We hope to do more in the future. In the meantime, feel free to share with us your exciting discoveries or to send us your questions. If you're in the Portland area, check out our monthly Tracking Club. And whatever you do:

Keep on Tracking!

]]><![CDATA[Tracking Challenge 3: Carnivores]]>Tue, 23 Mar 2021 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-3-carnivoresAuthors: Teri Lysak, Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project
and Käthe Steck, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

TRACKING CHALLENGE 2:
Carnivores!
Send us your photos of carnivore tracks and sign!
Winners will be chosen for:
- the clearest carnivore tracks,
-the most unusual carnivore tracks, and
- the most unusual sign!
Challenge Ends: April 19
Send photos to: wildlifesurveys@cascadiawild.org
Or, tag us on social media! #CaWTracks
Send us all your tracking questions and stories, too!

A coyote pauses, captured by a Wolverine Tracking Project wildlife camera on Mt. Hood.

The Pacific Northwest is home to hundreds of species of mammals, just as many birds and amphibians, and even more insects. Getting to know our wild neighbors is as interesting as it is rewarding - however, getting to know each one well can take a lot of time! One thing that wildlife biologists, trackers, and backyard or aspiring naturalists (like you!) can do, is to study groups of similar animals. One of the most important groups of animals that can tell us about the overall health of an ecosystem is carnivores.

Click Read More below to learn about the importance of carnivores to an ecosystem, and how to learn about their presence through tracks and sign they leave behind...

Carnivores occupy the upper levels of the food pyramid, and for their populations to be healthy, they depend on the health of everyone below them. For example, a coyote is dependent upon the health of the rabbit populations, who are dependent upon the health of the flora in their environment, who are dependent upon soil, air, water, and climate health. A single coyote requires many rabbits (and other prey) to be healthy, and the rabbits in turn need a large amount of healthy flora to flourish. If any one component is out of balance, it may affect the overall health of the ecosystem. This is why a food pyramid is also known as a food web. Carnivores are a key to understanding how well an ecosystem is thriving, which is a large reason why we focus on carnivores in our community science Wolverine Tracking Project. On a personal level, understanding carnivores in your local area can also help you understand the health of your neighborhood, park, or forest, and the roles that each group of animals plays within it.

The Five Carnivore Families

The word carnivore has two different meanings. Carnivore can refer to an animal's diet, in which case it means an animal that eats meat, differentiating it from an herbivore who eat vegetation, or an omnivore who eats a wide range of both plant and animal food. The other definition is taxonomic. Members of the order Carnivora are also referred to as carnivores. Carnivora is a formal grouping of animals that in our area includes canine, feline, weasel, bear, raccoon, and skunk families. This dual meaning can lead to confusing statements such as this one, which you will see again below: "Some carnivores (of the order Carnivora) are not very carnivorous (don't eat a lot of meat)!"

Let's look a little closer at the animals that make up this order.

Canines

A coyote, captured by a WTP trail camera, pauses in the snow.

A Sierra Nevada red fox inspects a camera site on Mt. Hood.

The canine family includes coyotes, wolves, foxes, and domestic dogs. Coyotes are one of the most common native carnivores found in the city.

Felines

A mountain lion walks through clearing, WTP trail camera.

A bobcat walks atop the snow by a WTP trail camera.

The feline family contains bobcats, cougars, and house cats.

Weasels

A Pacific marten inspects a camera site.

A weasel pauses for a trail cam.

Animals in the weasel, or mustelid, family all have a long skinny body and short legs. This family contains many species, including otter, mink, marten, long- and short-tailed weasels, and - our favorite - wolverine.

Bears and Raccoons

A black bear walks through a camera site.

A raccoon investigates the smells at a camera site.

Black bears are the only members of the bear family in NW Oregon; and likewise raccoons in the raccoon family.

Skunks

A striped skunk, showing off their characteristics stripes.

A spotted skunk, showing off their characteristics spots.

The skunk family was formerly lumped with weasels, but now is separate. There are two species in this family. Spotted skunks are primarily forest dwellers, while striped skunks are more common in more open areas, including the city.

Occasionally, we see these carnivores. But more often, they remain hidden and all we see are the signs that they were here. These signs can result from any of the activities that animals do - eating, resting, traveling, or communicating with others of their kind. Below are just a few of the more common signs to look for.

Tracks

When their feet land in mud, sand, snow, or other soft substance, animals will leave tracks for us to see. The most commonly seen tracks are from animals that like to use human trails, like coyotes.

Each of the different families has distinctly different track characteristics.

Canine tracks are oval in outline, with four toes in two ranks above a triangular heel pad.
Feline tracks are round in outline, with four toes evenly arced around a trapezoidal heel pad.
Weasel tracks have the toes arranged in an arc around the heel pad, but there are five toes and the heel pad is shaped like an upside down U.
Bear tracks also show five toes, but the toes in their tracks are arranged in a line above a wide rectangular heel pad, making the track look like a human foot.
Skunk tracks look a lot like miniature bear tracks.
Raccoon tracks show long toes, and the tracks resemble small human hands.

Coyote tracks showing the characteristic oval outline, four toes, and triangular heel pad of canine tracks.

Bobcat track showing the round outline and four evenly arced toes around a trapezoidal heel pad characteristic of feline tracks. Photo by Sarah Carl.

Mink tracks showing the arc of five toes around heel pad shaped like an upside down U that is characteristic of weasel family tracks.

A bear track (top) intersects with a human shoe track (bottom). The black bear tracks shows the characteristic five toes arranged in a line above a wide heel pad. A secondary heel pad, which corresponds to the ball of the foot, also shows in this picture.

Skunk tracks, much smaller but similar to bear tracks.

Raccoon tracks in mud showing the long toes on each foot, which resemble human hands.

Feeding Sign

Black bears are one of the least carnivorous members of order Carnivora. They eat berries, roots, insects, green plants, acorns, eggs, carrion, and just about anything else they can put in their mouth, with meat usually making up only about 10% of their diet. Black bears are not especially known for their hunting ability. But they sure do leave a lot of sign as they forage for food.

Bear feeding sign: a cherry tree that collapsed under the bears weight as it foraged for cherries. Photo by Kimber Nelson.

Bears love fruit, and the cherries in the tree pictured above are no exception. If you've ever tried to harvest wild cherries, you will know that they tend to grow in the top of the tree and your main difficulty is getting to them. In the photo, a bear climbed this bitter cherry tree to get to the fruit, only to have the branches break under its weight. Hopefully it was still able to hold on!

Bears also frequently tear apart dead logs to get to the grubs and other insects living inside, as shown in the below left picture. They also often climb trees, and their claw marks can be seen on smooth barked trees like the aspen in the below right picture.

A log that has been torn apart by a black bear.

The claw marks of a black bear left in the bark of an aspen.

The cat family, at the other extreme, contains the most highly carnivorous animals in this group. They are excellent hunters, and even as kittens or cubs play at stalking and pouncing. Felines will eat small prey whole, but will leave the remains of larger prey for us to find. Identifying the culprit when looking at a partially eaten animal carcass is usually very difficult. This is further complicated by the fact that a single carcass may have been eaten on by many different animals, and it may not have been killed by the same animal doing the most eating. Scavenging (eating animals that are already dead) is common among carnivores.

In the photo below, this deer was likely fed on by a mid size carnivore such as a bobcat. Some clues that indicate this are how the larger bones are all still intact and articulated to the body. A larger carnivore such as a cougar would have cracked more of the bones to get to the fatty marrow inside. Coyotes will often carry off portions of the carcass a short ways away so that the pack members can feed by themselves. The bobcat may not have been the only one feeding, however, and probably was not the one who killed this deer since that would be quite an undertaking for an animal that size.

The carcass of a deer, likely eaten by a midsize carnivore such as a bobcat.

With smaller prey, it is even harder to tell who they've been eaten by. This bird below was killed by something fairly small, since anything large would have just gulped the entire bird down. This was found in a residential area, and judging by the location, this bird was probably killed and partially eaten by a house cat, though we can't say for certain.

The partially eaten carcass of a songbird. Since this bird was not eaten whole, the carnivore in this case was smaller, possibly a house cat.

Scat

Any animal that eats also has to get rid of waste, and looking for scat can be a great way to tell who was around. The shape, size, and contents of the scat are clues as to the maker. The scat of most carnivores in tubular in shape, as opposed the pellets of most herbivores. Scat from a meat diet will contain hair and bones; scat from the entirely green-plant-based diet of an herbivore will be a homogeneous greenish brown.

To distinguish between the carnivores, look closer at the shape and at the size. Canine scat will often have very tapered ends and be twisted. Feline scat will be blunt on the ends, less twisted, and often segmented. Weasel scat will be very twisted, often double back on itself, and will have a small diameter. Bear scat can usually be distinguished by its quantity. When not a large, nondescript pile of digested berries, bear scat has blunt ends, is smooth, and large in diameter - the Lincoln logs of the woods.

Coyote scat showing very tapered ends and a twisted look.

Weasel scat showing a very twisted look, highly tapered ends, and a small diameter.

Bobcat scat showing more blunt ends and segmentation.

Bear scat showing very blunt ends and a large diameter.

Scat is something Wolverine Tracking Project volunteers look at a lot because it can be used to obtain DNA samples. If you want more information on how to identify scat, please come to one of our trainings! We would love to have you!

Communication Sign

All mammals need to communicate with others of their own kind. Much communication is through smell. Animals secrete pheromones from various glands on their body that can inform the recipient of the sender's gender, age, health, social status, and sometimes even which individual it is. Often, this scent is left in conjunction with some sort of visual sign as well.

Bears can leave some of the most obvious visual communication sign. They will bite, claw, and rub on the trunks of trees, often they use the same tree repeatedly. They seem to like to mark things that stand out visually, such as the handy trail sign pictured below.

Bear sign on a forest trail sign.

Bear sign on a tree trunk.

Canines and felines communicate with their scat and urine, secreting pheromones along with the waste material. Sometimes they also mark their scat location with a scrape in the ground, depositing secretions from glands in the feet as well as visually enhancing the scat. With felines, these scrapes are very tidy and rectangular. With canines, the dirt is scattered and the shape amorphous. Those of you with dogs or cats at home may be familiar with this already!

Bobcat scrape and scat. Photo from Paul Halliday.

Animal Parts

Death is as much a part of the natural cycle as life. Finding old bones slowly decomposing back to dirt is an obvious sign that an animal once lived here. And, hopefully, also a sign that their offspring are here still!

The rear leg (above) and skull (below) of a raccoon, found near Leach Botanical Gardens.

Sign of carnivores can be exciting to find. We hope this post inspires you to start searching and guides you in what to look for.

As always, send us your photos, any questions, and your stories as you head out and explore.
See our other posts for guide recommendations and some tips on where to look!

Happy tracking!

]]><![CDATA[Tracking Challenge 2 Winners!]]>Tue, 23 Mar 2021 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-2-winnersFor our second Tracking Challenge, we asked you to send us your photos of squirrel tracks and sign. We had some excellent submissions!

The Winners
Tracking Challenge 2:
Squirreling Around!

Category 1: the Clearest Squirrel Tracks

The winner for the clearest tracks goes to Graham Hulbert for these tracks found near Mt Hood.

It is not often we get to see the toes show up in squirrel tracks!

Squirrels are small, lightweight animals. In order for the details of their feet to be seen, snow conditions have to be almost perfect. The snow has to be soft and fluffy so that each toe will sink in individually, it can't be too deep, and the snow also has to stop falling at some point, since new snow will obscure the details. Here in the Pacific NW, where most of our snow is wet and heavy, and days without precipitation can be few and far between, tracks like these are not common.

Graham is a Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project and found the tracks while carrying out a tracking survey near Little John SnoPark. What a great find!

Click Read More below to see the rest of the winners: Most Unusual Squirrel Tracks and Squirrel Sign!

Category 2: The most Unusual Squirrel Tracks

The winner for the most unusual squirrel tracks also comes from Mt Hood. Alexis and Andrew, Camera Crew volunteers with the Wolverine Tracking Project, found these tracks while checking a wildlife camera near Teacup Lake.

Is it a butterfly? A bat? No, it's a squirrel! Unlike the clear tracks in the first picture, these tracks were made in deep snow. Well, deep for a squirrel at any rate. This squirrel's feet made long drag marks in the snow as it hopped along, leaving a very unusual outline!

Here are a few other pictures they sent from the same trail.

Some very unusual shapes, indeed!

There are two species of squirrels that could have left these tracks from Mt Hood, Douglas squirrels and northern flying squirrels. These two are similar sized and have very similar feet. One clue that could help us differentiate between them is the time of day the tracks were made. Douglas squirrels are active during the day, while flying squirrels are nocturnal.

What a beautiful day to be out!

Category 3: The Best squirrel Sign

Squirrels leave many other signs of their presence besides tracks. These other signs can be a lot more useful in areas where tracks do not show up very well, such as your backyard.

The winner for the best squirrel sign goes to Sophie Dimont, our very own intern with the Wolverine Tracking Project. She says: I was just staring outside my front room window and saw this...

The ball of leaves in the upper branches of the tree is a squirrel nest. Squirrels are like us in that they need homes to stay warm and dry. They build nests of leaves, small twigs, and other vegetation. These nests can be very difficult to see during the summer when the trees are leafed out, but during the winter, they become much more obvious.

It often happens that once you learn something new, you start seeing it everywhere. We hope this picture will help you discover the squirrel nests that might be hiding outside your windows as well!

Honorable Mention

Here at Cascadia Wild, we were excited last month when we saw snow in the forecast for the greater Portland area, thinking this would be a great opportunity to see some tracks around here. But sometimes you can get too much of a good thing! It snowed, and snowed - and then snowed some more. For this month's tracking challenge, we only received one submission of tracks from the greater Portland area! This picture was sent to us by Susan Hawes, long time volunteer with the Wolverine Tracking Project, who went out at just the right time to see these tracks before they were obscured by more yet falling snow.

All four feet of this squirrel are visible as it hopped along, moving towards the bottom of the picture.

Thank you to all who joined us for our second Tracking Challenge!

Join us for our final tracking challenge this winter: Tracking Carnivores!

Carnivore Challenge

]]><![CDATA[Tracking Challenge 2: Squirreling Around]]>Mon, 22 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-2-squirreling-aroundAuthor: Teri Lysak, Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project

TRACKING CHALLENGE 2:
Squirreling Around!
Send us your photos of squirrel tracks and sign!
Winners will be chosen for:
- the clearest squirrel tracks,
-the most unusual squirrel tracks, and
- the most unusual sign!
Challenge Ends: March 15
Send photos to: wildlifesurveys@cascadiawild.org
Or, tag us on social media! #CaWTracks
Send us all your tracking questions and stories, too!

A Douglas squirrel says hello to one of our Wolverine Tracking Project wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood.

Did you all get to enjoy the snow we received over Valentine's Day Weekend? I have never seen so much snow in Portland before! The snow was deeper than the tops of my boots as I walked along the sidewalk, and more was still coming down. There weren’t many tracks to be seen, apparently not many animals were venturing out in those conditions. The only tracks I saw were people and dogs - and one squirrel!

Squirrels are a great place to begin if you want to study the ecology of your backyard. Although they are very common, studying squirrels can take you on some quite unexpected journeys.

There are four species of tree squirrels in our area: fox squirrels and eastern gray squirrels, both of which are non-native and found all over the city; Douglas squirrels, which are associated with conifers; and western gray squirrels, which were historically associated with oak savannas but have now become very rare.

A Douglas squirrel captured by one of our wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood.

A western gray squirrel captured by one of our wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood

I see squirrels fairly regularly. Seeing them is fun, but to really learn about them, I look for their tracks and sign. To a tracker, the word “sign” refers to anything other than tracks that shows you that an animal was there. Sign can include food scraps, beds, digs, scat, and so on. Tracks and sign can really teach you a lot about an animal and their ecosystem!

Squirrel Sign

One of the more obvious types of sign that tree squirrels make, obvious in winter at least, is nests.

Squirrels build round balls of leaves to live in, thicker ones for winter, smaller ones for summer. What do nests tell you about squirrels? That they need to stay warm!

Not all animals have this problem. Deer, in contrast, have fur that is spectacularly well insulated and are able to bed down right in the open, even during the coldest of winter; sometimes, snow won’t even melt off their backs. Squirrels, on the other hand, have really short fur and not a lot of body fat. Just like us, they need to build a home where they can sleep and stay warm.

A squirrel nest made of leaves in the upper branches of a tree.

Another sign I see a lot is this:

A small pile, or midden, of conifer cone bracts left behind by a squirrel feeding on the cone's seeds.

One of squirrel’s main foods is conifer cones, in this case a Douglas fir cone. In order to get to the seeds inside, the squirrels have to first chew off the bracts, the flat pieces you see scattered about.

A midden pile left by a squirrel eating in the nearby tree. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

Often, piles of this feeding debris accumulate in one spot, as seen in the picture to the left (or above if you're on a mobile).

Curiously placed! Obviously, this squirrel was not eating the cones wherever they landed. It was carrying them to a very particular spot, over and over again, to eat.

To understand this, let’s think about ourselves again, and our eating behaviors. Where do we eat? In general, given a choice, we eat near where the food is prepared and where we feel safe. Squirrels and other animals are the same way, and for squirrels, this often means they eat up in a tree, where they are safe from most predators. The cone debris then falls to the ground and collects in a pile beneath where they were sitting.

On the topic of squirrels and cones, I heard a funny story from fellow Tracking Leader Graham Hulbert about when he was doing trail maintenance on the Mt Hood National Forest. I quote: “I wandered into the woods a little ways but was almost ambushed by a 4-pound cone falling from the top of a grand fir. I thought it was fluke that it fell down until, upon inspection, I saw teeth marks in the green branch attached to the cone - it had been chewed through! Luckily, I had my hard hat, so I put it on – and right in time - another cone came crashing down, followed by the barks of a disgruntled Douglas squirrel at the top of the tree, yelling at me as if they could only assume I was trying to pilfer their delicious treats!”

A Douglas squirrel, likely en route to forage, captured by one of our wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood.

This story tells us another important fact about squirrels – they actively gather and store cones. Again, they are like us. Plant food doesn’t grow during the winter, so in order to survive, both of us harvest and store food in the fall. This is a good alternative to hibernating!

Some cone debris piles I’ve seen can get very large, like this one below:

Squirrel tunnels where cones are cached, built in a midden made out of the refuse of past-eaten cones. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

In the picture above, the mound at the base of the tree is a huge accumulation of cone remains! There are several tunnels in the middle of it, where the squirrel has repeatedly gone in to get a cone and come out to eat. In this case the squirrel's safety zone isn’t a tree, but an underground tunnel. In colder areas like on the mountain, squirrels will often live underground in the winter, where it is warmer and where the pantry, dinner table, and bedroom can all be close together.

Squirrels leave many other less common signs as well. Searching for something rare can be a lot of fun. Birders are known for creating “life lists” of all the bird species they have ever seen. Trackers, too, enjoy the search, but with us it's not new species we are looking for, but rare and unusual evidence of the species we know are here.

These less common signs help tell a more complete story of a squirrel’s life. For instance, do squirrels eat anything besides cones? This is an important question because knowing what an animal eats gives you a lot of insight into their behavior, since most animals spend the majority of their time eating, hunting, collecting, or storing food. Many of the following photos come from the excellent collection by Tracking Leader Kimber Nelson.

Bark is a staple of many herbivorous animals, as shown in the pictures below.

A pine tree with several galls on its branches. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

Detail of squirrel feeding sign on a pine gall. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

In the pictures above, a squirrel has fed on the bark of a gall, an unusual growth created by an insect living inside the tree, that apparently has much tastier bark than the rest of the tree. If you look closely, you can see teeth marks left by the squirrel’s front teeth, the incisors. All rodents and rabbits have two pairs of wide incisor teeth. To narrow down whodunit, look at the size of the teeth marks.

Squirrels also eat mushrooms,

Squirrel feeding sign on a mushroom. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

Nip off the ends of twigs to get at the developing pollen cones,

Squirrel feeding sign on a developing pollen cone.

Dig up truffles,

Sign of where a squirrel has dug up a truffle.

Sign from a squirrel eating a truffle on a log. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

And gnaw on bones to get calcium.

Squirrel feeding sign on a bone. This is an important way for many wildlife to get calcium in their diet. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

Similar to Graham's story above, on one of my more memorable hikes, I was walking along by myself when suddenly, out of the blue, a bone fell from the sky and landed right in front of me. Well, not the sky, exactly. I immediately heard a Douglas squirrel yelling at me as it ran away. I probably scared it right in the middle of its meal!

Still on the subject of food, the following picture shows another important consideration a squirrel has in its life:

The tail of what was once likely a flying squirrel. Photo: Kimber Nelson.

The picture above was found in Mt. Hood National Forest and likely shows a tail that once belonged to a flying squirrel. Squirrels are small and are food for many different carnivores. The tail contains very little meat and lots of hair and bone and is often discarded by smaller predators such as owls.

Squirrel Tracks

Squirrel tracks can be difficult to find because squirrels are much too lightweight to make tracks in the grass, mulch, and vegetation that typically covers a backyard. All of the track pictures I have are either in snow or in sand along the beach.

A typical presentation of squirrel tracks in snow.

Just like with looking for unusual sign, a tracker also searches for rare tracks. A tracker's search for something rare happens with tracks as well. Clear tracks are some of those that can be very rare and hard to find.

Here is a picture of some of the clearest squirrel tracks I have ever seen, taken by Tracking Leader Garth Olsen on a Wolverine Tracking Project tracking survey trip on Mt Hood.

Very clear squirrel tracks in snow. Photo: Garth Olsen.

And here’s another from his collection:

Again, very clear squirrel tracks, this time in mud. Photo: Garth Olsen.

These pictures are amazing because you can very clearly see all the details of the feet – the toes, heel pads, and claws. The front feet are the ones on the bottom, they have 4 toes and two additional pads behind the palm. The hind feet, on top, have 5 toes, with the middle three toes parallel to each other and the inner and outer toes sticking out to the sides.

Like sign, looking at tracks can also tell you about the animal that made them. It’s easier to see patterns when you compare a thing with something else, so let’s compare squirrel tracks with dog tracks.

Squirrel track in thin snow on a branch.

Dog track in wet sand.

First, look at the claws. Squirrels’ claws are thin and narrow, which means they are sharp, adapted for climbing trees. Dogs’ claws show up much larger in the tracks because they are blunter. Also look at the length of the toes. Squirrels have long toes, which helps them grasp objects - which gives a clue as to how they eat.

A squirrel stands on their hind legs and grasps their food in its front feet to eat. Captured by one of our wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood.

When looking at tracks, we can also zoom out to look at where they are found. I’ve found that squirrel tracks often go back and forth repeatedly between trees, like the following picture:

Several squirrel trails go back and forth between two trees.

Or cluster around the base of a tree, like this:

Squirrel tracks in snow clustered around the base of a tree. Photo: Paul Schertz.

I’ve seldom seen a trail that goes very far before ending at a tree. Trees seem to be a theme when it comes to tree squirrels!

As trackers, part of the search for interesting tracks also includes tracks in unusual locations. Here’s some squirrel tracks – on the tree itself!

Squirrel tracks in snow and on the base of the tree trunk. Photo: Maggie Starr.

The pattern of footprints also tells you a lot about the animal. Below is the typical trail pattern of squirrels, which speaks a lot to their vulnerability as prey:

Typical squirrel trail pattern. Photo: Paul Schertz.

The pattern shows groups of four feet separated by large spaces in between. This pattern comes from a “body scissors” motion where the spine flexes then contracts with each jump. This is a much faster way of moving than walking, where all of the motion comes just from the legs. Dogs do this type of movement, too, but with them it’s called a gallop and is only done when they are going fast; normally, dogs will walk and trot. With squirrels, this bounding motion is their usual gait and the way their bodies are shaped, with large, powerful rear legs, makes it an energy efficient way for them to travel.

Here’s a close up of one set of prints:

Detail of a set of prints left by a squirrel in snow. All four feet are shown. Photo: Paul Schertz.

The hips and hind legs of a squirrel are larger than their shoulders and front legs (if you can’t picture that, look again at one of the squirrel pictures above), so, likewise, their rear tracks are larger and spaced wider apart than their front tracks. Looking again at the picture, that means that the hind feet are actually landing ahead of the front feet. This is a gait designed for speed!

The two pictures below, taken from our wildlife camera on Mt Hood, show how the body contracts and extends as a squirrel moves.

The movements of two squirrels bounding through snow can be seen in the comparison of the top and bottom photos. Captured by one of our wildlife cameras on Mt. Hood.

As prey for numerous predators, this locomotion is important for giving squirrels a fighting chance.

And here’s another example of how squirrels are good at escaping predators - by staying hidden:

A squirrel hides from a human on the other side of a tree. Photo: Garth Olsen.

For such a "common" animal, there is lot that squirrels can teach us! If you really want to hone your powers of observation, though, start searching for squirrel scat. Scat can be more difficult to find than tracks and other types of sign. This might be the ultimate challenge for the squirrel tracker!

Detail of squirrel scat left on a log.

Squirrels tend to leave their scat on logs and other routes that they travel on repeatedly, so this treasure hunt will really teach you a lot about their travel routes and how they utilize a landscape.

Now that you have some examples of the tracks and sign that squirrels can leave behind, I hope you are inspired and excited to go out and look at the natural world with fresh eyes. Squirrels can be found almost everywhere, and although the tracks and sign can seem elusive, finding these traces of their presence can be a very rewarding adventure, and one that you can do in almost any environment - whether your backyard, park, or even the forest.

As always, send us your photos, any questions, and your stories as you head out and explore.

Happy tracking!

]]><![CDATA[Tracking Challenge #1 Winners!]]>Fri, 19 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-1-winnersFor our first Tracking Challenge, we asked for your most clear and your most unusual photos of tracks left by any animal, even if you didn't know who left them. We asked, and you delivered! You've submitted some excellent photos. Without much further adieu, we announce:

THE Winners
Tracking challenge 1:
Distinct and unique

category 1: Distinct Tracks

The Clear Winner

The winner for the most clear tracks goes to Instagram user @buttsuponatime who captured this amazing series of tracks outside their back door after the last snowstorm:

Any guesses on who these tracks belong to?

Click "Read More" below to find out and to see the rest of the winners!

@buttsuponatime didn't have to do too much guessing, because the next moment, the 'culprit' revealed themselves:

Followed these tracks in the yard to see what this guy might’ve been up to in the night, he decided to show up and follow me inside ❄️ 🐈‍⬛ 😂 - @buttsuponatime

Beautiful tracks, and a beautiful cat!
See the original post on Instagram.

WTP Winner

Volunteers with the Wolverine Tracking Project spend a lot of time on Mt. Hood checking wildlife trail cameras and going out on tracking surveys. They see a lot of great track and sign on the mountain and in the national forest, and so we have a separate category to celebrate their findings, too!

The award for most clear tracks found on the mountain goes to Carlene Blaich, a long time member or our camera crew and tracking teams. Carlene captured these photos of a set of prints left by a snowshoe hare.

Snowshoe hare is by far the most common wildlife detected on our winter tracking surveys, seconded only by tree squirrels. Although we get to see a lot of their tracks, it is very rare for conditions to be good enough for tracks this clear. Another reason we rarely get to see tracks this clear is because snowshoe hare have very heavily furred feet to protect them from the cold. Those large feet on the right of the set of prints are the hind feet of the hare - you can see how they resemble snowshoes. In this photo you can clearly see each and every one of the hare's toes!

Honorable Mention

While these tracks don't come from your "typical" backyard, they are nonetheless some of the clearest tracks we have ever seen left by marten. These were captured by Kurt Zias at the Salt Creek Summit Sno Park in the Wallowa Mountains.

These are probably the clearest marten tracks I’ve ever seen. Typically the snow is too deep, melted out, etc. to make out details but these were near perfect! - Kurt Zias

Marten live in upper elevation, mature conifer forests. On Mt. Hood, marten are one of the target species of the Wolverine Tracking Project camera and tracking surveys. We have gotten to document many marten tracks over the years, and we could not believe, or resist, sharing these wonderful photos!

Category 2: unique Tracks

The Unusual Winner

Another submission from Kurt Zias wins for the most unusual tracks found! These tracks belong to an owl, likely a western screech owl. These tracks are so unusual because it is very rare to see owl tracks!

I’m feeling pretty confident these were western screech owl tracks, based on size and habitat. The owl landed on the ground multiple times, walking and hopping around near mouse trails. Unfortunately, I did not find any evidence of a mouse predation. It was still cool to see evidence of this little guy. - Kurt Zias

We wholeheartedly agree! These tracks were found in Zumwalt Prairie near Enterprise, Oregon.

WTP Winner

The next tracks are some we rarely get to see in winter. These tracks were found by Tracking Leaders John Lehne and Heidi Perry while checking one of our cameras at Tilly Jane. In late January, it is very unusual to get to see the tracks of black bear!

Such a good tracking day! No tracks in the near vicinity of the camera, but so many along the trail! All the usual suspects - squirrel, snowshoe hare, weasel, mouse/vole (bounds & even a diagonal walker), several coyote (including two traveling together), and, unbelievably, a BEAR!!! What is the bear doing awake in the middle of winter? - Heidi Perry

What is the bear doing awake in the middle of winter? Bears, skunks, and raccoons don't hibernate the same way as other animals, like ground squirrels, do. Instead of going into a very deep sleep, they instead go into a state called torpor. Unlike other hibernators that need to wake up and eat, make waste, and move their muscles a bit, bears can stay in torpor for up to 100 days without waking. Or, they can also easily wake up from torpor when the conditions are right. We've had a warmer winter, and during warmer spells when food may be more available, an opportunistic bear can wake from their torpor hibernation, or hibernation can be delayed altogether. Anything for a winter snack!

Honorable Mention

What's the next best thing to seeing tracks or sign from unusual wildlife? Seeing the unusual wildlife themselves! Our honorable mention for this category goes to Ray Anderson and Kathleen Baker for their backyard sighting of this bobcat!

...We were astonished to find a bobcat in our backyard in the middle of the day last week. No game camera needed – we took these pictures out our back door. We live on the outskirts of Portland adjacent to Forest Park. We feed the birds (and by extension, the squirrels, and chipmunks) in our backyard and the bobcat must have been hunting. It hung around for a couple minutes while we took pictures before disappearing like a ghost when we glanced away for a moment. It cruised back through the yard again this morning so it may have a den nearby. To give you some perspective, the masonry block behind the cat is 16” long so it looks like the cat might be ~24” not including the tail. We’re guessing 30-40 lbs. - Ray Anderson

That is quite the ecosystem you are helping to support, Ray and Kathleen! Bobcats, often nocturnal, are elusive by nature. However, during the winter when food is more scarce, they may be active during different times of day and may be so bold as to show themselves to humans. What an awesome sighting!

Submissions

The above winners are just six of many more excellent submissions that were sent to us. Please check out the slideshow below for other great documentations of tracks and even some more wildlife sightings!

Thank you to all who joined us for our first ever Tracking Challenge!

And stay tuned for Tracking Challenge 2!
Hint: It's going to get SQUIRRELY

]]><![CDATA[Build your own Tracking Station]]>Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:46:58 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/build-your-own-tracking-stationAuthor: Teri Lysak, Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project

We recently shared some tips for where to look for tracks in your neighborhood. However, you don't need to wait for snow or seek out mud - you can easily build a tracking station for your yard, porch, or patio!

A tracking station is simple, and consists of a track plate, fine powder like charcoal to put on the track plate, a cover to protect the plate from the elements, and (optional) bait to entice animals to visit.

Click "Read More" below to see how you can build one!

A tracking station I set up under some cedars in my backyard last weekend, complete with a track plate, powder, and a cover.

1. Get your Track Plate

Skunk tracks collected on a track plate while helping out with a field research project in Arizona. These are likely hognose or striped skunk - we have many striped skunks in the Pacific Northwest, too!

A track plate is any large, flat piece of metal, plastic, or other material, covered with fine powder. When an animal walks on it, their feet remove the powder and their tracks can be seen.

For the plate, the easiest and cheapest things I’ve found to use are:

plastic wall paneling (called FRP panels) available at any construction store, or
thin sheet metal, available from most hardware stores as well.

The size of the plate depends on the size of the animals you wish to see, but in general, 2ft x 3ft is a good compromise between being large enough to pick up tracks and small enough to easily find a spot for it and carry it there.

2. Grab a Powder

For the powder, I use fine charcoal powder. I got mine from a filtration supply company. Other sources include: health foods stores, who sell it as activated charcoal powder; aquarium stores, who sell it for use in water filters; or even the toner from an old printer cartridge. I’ve heard that chalk dust will also work as well. Soot from an acetylene torch has also been used a lot, but to me this seems a lot more difficult and dangerous.

3. Select your Location

When considering a location for your track plate, the ground has to be as level as possible, otherwise the plate will flex, make noise, and scare animals away. This is especially true when using metal sheets.

4. Set up your Station!

Now that you have all your materials and location ready, you can set up your tracking station.

Apply the powder to your track plate: To apply the dust, I use a slurry of charcoal powder in water. The consistency is thinner than “paste” but thicker than “watery.” I use a paintbrush to paint it onto the plate. When I’m done, you can still see the paintbrush lines; the charcoal is not a smooth, even layer, but it is still spread evenly enough that the tracks show up well.

After mixing the charcoal powder with some water, I use a paintbrush to apply it to the track plate.

This is an example of a wood "cubby" used as a track plate cover with a bit of bait at the back of the tunnel, a method often used in wildlife research. However, a cover as simple as a tarp will work. From Track Plates, William Zielinski, USDA Forest Service (click photo or see below for link).

Cover the track plate: the charcoal powder is easily washed off easily in rain or even dew, so in this area, covering it during winter is a must. Any sort of covering will work. If you have a covered patio, that works great. I usually tie a tarp or sheet of plastic over it, making sure it is large enough that rain doesn’t blow in from the sides, at high enough that it doesn’t scare anything from entering underneath. In wildlife research projects, the cover is often made in the form of a cubby, a long, narrow box that is closed at one end. Bait is placed at the back to entice the animals to enter, and in order to get to the bait, the animal is forced to walk the length of the box, where it is sure to leave its footprints.

Set out bait (optional): Having a bait to entice animals to walk on your track plate can help it be more effective. Bait can take the form of a very small amount of food or just a smell that animals are attracted to. But bait also has drawbacks. It can be inappropriate to use in areas where you don’t want to encourage certain animals to be, since, especially if used repeatedly over time, it does have the potential to affect an animal’s movement patterns and nutritional levels.

Last weekend, I captured the trail of a small animal. I'm not sure if this was a slug, worm, grub, caterpillar, or something else. You won't always capture the most exciting wildlife, but you will definitely get to see the trails of animals that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

5. Share your Photos!

We'd love to see your own tracking station setups and what visitors you find!
Don't forget to check out our current Tracking Challenge for some inspiration! (see the post menu on the upper right of this page)

List of Materials

Track Plate:

plastic wall paneling, sheet metal, or similar non-absorbent material, ~2ft x 3ft
* can be found at hardware and construction stores

Powder:

charcoal powder or similar fine powder
* charcoal powder can be found at health food stores, aquarium stores, in ink cartridges
water for mixing with the powder
paint brush for applying the powder to the plate

Cover (necessary in winter):

tarp, plastic sheet, covered patio, or similar

Bait (optional):

a small amount of food or enticing scent
*do not use bait where you do not want to attract pests or create food dependencies

Location:

an area that is as level as possible and will fit the track plate

Further Reading

There are many sources of information on track plates. Here are just a few.

For a scientific account, check out:

Track Plates. This is chapter 4 of book entitled American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine: survey methods for their detection, by William Zielinski. This is one of the earliest and still most referred to books on non-invasive carnivore monitoring.

For other great ideas, see:

Real Track Impressions from Sooted Bait Stations. This page has images of tracks found at tracking stations set up by Kim A. Cabrera over the years, along with links to more resources.

For a simpler approach to a tracking station setup, read:

How to Setup a Tracking Station from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

]]><![CDATA[Mini Track Challenge!]]>Wed, 27 Jan 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/mini-track-challengeWhen we first announced the Tracking Challenge, we shared this photo:

Any guesses on who left these tracks?

If you're feeling stumped, count the number of toes, estimate the size of the tracks, consider the habitat... A lot of tracking is looking for clues - both in the tracks themselves and where they are found.

If you think you've got it, or if you just want to know who it is, click "Read More" below!

Here is a detailed photo of a couple of the tracks:

In the detailed photo above you can see two tracks on top of one another. The one in front is the front foot, and the hind foot is just behind and on top of the foot. If you look very closely you can see that each foot has 5 toes (this is a bit more difficult to tell on the hind foot). We can also make out what looks to be claws on each foot. From the ruler in the photo, the tracks look around about 1 ½ inches wide and long. We can look in a guidebook for tracks of this size and these characteristics, but knowing where they were found also helps determine who these belong to.

From the first photo we showed, we get a lot of context: there is some vegetation, but mostly we see mud and some rocks that look very smooth, an indication they've been weathered by water. This is likely a river bank. Indeed, these were found along the Sandy River in Oxbow Regional Park - a great place to go tracking! There is a lot more we could also say about the gait of this mammal and the trail of footprints it has left for us, which also offers some clues.

So who could this be? These tracks, it turns out, belong to a mink! These semi-aquatic and slinky carnivores leave their 5-toed tracks along the water’s edge (although the fifth toe doesn’t *always* show). The photo below shows a mink photographed by one of our trail cameras near a stream.

Congrats if you guessed this! And if you didn’t, don’t worry! Unlike dog and cat tracks, this is not a basic track. Unlike squirrels and the like, it is not one you would typically encounter in a backyard. However, if you’re heading out to look for tracks near a river bed, you just may see some of these tracks around!

For more info on our Tracking Challenge 1: Distinct and Unique, which concludes Feb 15, see our post linked below.
When that one ends, we'll announce our next challenge, so stay tuned for that, too!

Send us your tracking photos and questions, and happy tracking!

Tracking Challenge 1

]]><![CDATA[Tracking Challenge #1: Distinct and unique]]>Sat, 23 Jan 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-challenge-1-distinct-and-uniqueAuthor: Teri Lysak, Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project

TRACKING CHALLENGE 1
Send us your photos of:
- clear, distinct tracks, and/or
- the most unusual tracks!
Challenge Ends: February 15
Send photos to: wildlifesurveys@cascadiawild.org
Or, tag us on social media! #CaWTracks
Send us all your tracking questions and stories, too!

We finally have the possibility of some snow in the foothills this weekend and next week!
I am excited for the snow! Some of you may be looking at me askance, but when there is snow, suddenly I can see the tracks of all the animals that live here. What a wealth of information!

The last time it snowed in Portland, I learned a lot of things about my neighborhood. The first tracks I saw when I walked out the front door were these:

Cat. We don't have a cat, but there were the tracks, walking right down our driveway, through the yard, and on. I followed them down the sidewalk, into the neighbor’s yard, out of their yard, and down the road some more. I don’t know where it came from or how far it traveled the night before, but it seemed familiar with the area, walking at a steady, even pace as if making its usual nightly rounds.

Next I wandered to the backyard. A bit of snow had blown into the covered patio on the far side of the yard, and there I saw these tracks:

Ugh, rat. Not what I wanted to see! The tracks ran across the patio and along the fence, but I was happy to see they didn’t come near the house. Maybe I should be grateful to that cat!

I circled the house and came to the bird feeder. The tracks were thick here!

Small birds were hopping all over around the feeder. I’m guessing they were juncos, because whenever my housemate fills the feeder, the goldfinches and house finches fly to the feeder itself while the juncos hang out on the ground underneath and pick up all the seed that has fallen.

These tracks - and the lack of other kinds of tracks - bring very good news: the rats are not coming to the feeder! That makes me feel much more comfortable. Before I moved here, the neighbors behind us had chickens, and now I speculate that it was the chickens that brought the rats in, and even after several years, it appears they may still be mostly using the neighbor's yard, not mine. That definitely makes me feel more comfortable!

On such a beautiful day, I had to take a wander through the neighborhood to see what I could see. The trail of cat tracks continued, at the same steady pace, in and out of many yards. There were some dog tracks as well, but here the difference between these two animals clearly showed itself. The dog tracks either showed a lot of excited play and were confined to one yard (and sometimes the street adjacent to it, which I’m sure the owners did not approve of), or they were right next to people tracks, presumably from an animal on a leash. Yep, cats are definitely more independent.

In a short while I came to our local park by the Mt. Scott Community Center, a small park just a couple blocks in size. Here, there were lots of these tracks:

Squirrels. Hopping all over, going from tree to tree and all around the place. I’ve seen the squirrels themselves there many times, so this came as no surprise, but today I was struck by how many tracks there were in the park, while there were none in my yard or along the street. My neighborhood doesn’t have a whole lot of trees. The park itself is mostly mowed grass, but it does have a great overstory of tall Douglas firs. I’ve read a lot of literature about how we should plant native plants for wildlife - here’s proof that block by block, the types of plants growing in an area can have a strong influence on the animals that are able to use it.

What if we don't get the forecasted snow?

When there is no snow, tracks are much harder to find. The places I look then are muddy areas and sandy areas. Sandy beaches can be found along the major rivers, some of the best places are Oxbow
Regional Park, Kelley Point Park, Sauvie Island, and Oaks Bottom.
Mud, on the other hand, can be found anywhere. But best spots for finding tracks are around small ponds just as the water is receding.

Here are some muskrat tracks from Sunny Pond / Tanner Creek Greenway :

And a squirrel at Camassia Natural Area:

Sometimes the mud just needs to be transferred to a place where it can be seen. Here, my friend learned how the raccoons were getting into his yard:

To track closer to my house, I’ve also laid out a sheet of plastic wall paneling or sheet metal covered with a thin layer of charcoal dust in my yard to detect tracks. This tracking station revealed yet more cat tracks:

Often, tracks don’t show up very clearly. Actually, this is usually the case!

Below is a nutria track from Stella Olsen Memorial Park. It’s unmistakable to an experienced tracker, but it does take a fair amount of skill to be able to correctly interpret.

Here’s a beaver track from Oxbow Park, for comparison:

At a larger park like Oxbow, larger animals are able to live as well, including this cougar:

It’s pretty amazing all the animal activity that takes place in the city!
At the risk of sounding cheesy, I’m also going to say that tracking is a great COVID activity because it can be done near your house by yourself, and it can also be something to motivate you to get outside.

So, we want to give you a challenge for the next couple weeks – go out and try to find tracks! Any tracks. Even if you don’t know who or what made them. Send them to us with any questions you have, and at the end of three weeks, we will give special kudos to the person who found the most unusual tracks and the person who found the clearest tracks. We hope this will inspire you to get out, and provide an opportunity where we can all learn from each other, while still staying safe and healthy. Happy hunting!

]]><![CDATA[Where to look for tracks]]>Fri, 22 Jan 2021 21:53:27 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/where-to-look-for-tracks

Snow is some of the best substrate for looking for tracks!
A good, fresh snowfall turns the whole landscape into a tracking canvas. This makes winter one of the most exciting times for tracking.

Anywhere there is snow, you should be able to see some wildlife traffic!

A full set of squirrel tracks in snow

A coyote track in mud

Look for mud and soft, wet soil
When there is no snow, tracks can be more difficult to find. However, one thing we are also blessed with in the Pacific Northwest is rain - and dirt!

Muddy areas can be great for discovering who's been in an area. And, mud can be found anywhere! The best spots are along trails and the edges of small ponds just as the water is receding.

Hit the beach!
Sandy areas can also be good places to find tracks.

Sandy beaches can be found along the major rivers in our area. Some of the best places are:

Tracks left behind by a toad in sand

Make your own backyard track station
Create a canvas for wildlife in your backyard - no need for snow, mud, or sand.

You can easily create a simple tracking station out of plastic or vinyl paneling, or another nonabsorbent material. Set your track plate out, cover it with a thin layer of charcoal dust, chalk, or other similar material, and wait for animals to come! If there is wind and/or rain, you will also want to create a shelter for the track plate, so that the tracks don't wash or blow away.

Here are some more more tips from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County:
How to Set Up a Track Station

See our first Tracking Challenge for more info on where and how to look for tracks!

Track Challenge 1

]]><![CDATA[Tracking GUIDEBOOKS]]>Fri, 22 Jan 2021 21:15:05 GMThttps://www.cascadiawild.org/tracking-challenge/tracking-resourcesTracking is a skill that anyone can learn! Not only is it easy to pick up, but it is a skill that you can enjoy and develop throughout your whole life. Once you start to see the small signs of life around you, you realize how much a river bank, a section of path, even a tree branch and so on can tell you about the comings and goings and the interconnectedness of life on the landscape.

A guide can be incredibly helpful to carry while you're in the field, whether you're a new or well-seasoned tracker. These are some of our favorite guides, both general and for our area. Check your local bookstore or library!

One of the best guidebooks for our area: Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, by David Moskowitz, 2010. From Timber Press.

Animal Tracks of Washington and Oregon. Ian Sheldon. 2017. Partners Publishing, USA.

Behavior of North American Mammals. Kurt Rinehart and Mark Elbroch. 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, USA.

Land Mammals of Oregon. B.J. Verts and Leslie Carraway. 1998. University of California Press, USA.

Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species. Mark Elbroch. 2019. Second Edition. Stackpole Books, USA.

Mammals of the Pacific Northwest: From the Coast to the High Cascades. Chris Maser. 1998. Oregon State University Press, USA.

Tracking Canids: Track and Trail Synopsis. James Halfpenny et al. 1998. A Naturalist's World, USA.

Scats and Tracks of the Pacific Coast. James Halfpenny. 2015. Falcon Guides, USA.

Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest: Tracking and Identifying Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates. David Moskowitz. 2010. Timber Press, USA.

Have a favorite guide you would like to recommend - let us know!
We'll continue adding to this post as recommendations come in.

And, as always, send us your questions and photos! We love to see what you find out there!

Contact: Feel free to comment here, fill out a contact form, or email wildlifesurveys@cascadiawild.org

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